The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made it's mind of doing away with the Impact Player rule for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy (SMAT). The Indian Board sent a confirmation to the state boards over its decision to scrap up the rule for the domestic T20 tournament.
"Kindly note that the BCCI has decided to do away with the provision of the, " the Indian Board wrote to the state associations as quoted by ESPNCricinfo.
Niraj Odedra, head coach of Saurashtra welcomed the decision. "It is a nice change. Also, the ICC doesn't have this rule in major tournaments So it would be good for cricketers who want to play for India as they graduate from domestic season," he said.
While it has been scrapped for the next season of SMAT, the BCCI has kept the contentious rule intact in the Indian Premier League for the next three seasons.
The rule has been the major talking point in jeopardising the role of all-rounders in Indian cricket. National team captain Rohit Sharma was among the ones who raised his voice against this law, which came into effect in IPL from 2023 onwards.
"I generally feel that it is going to hold back (development of allrounders) because eventually cricket is played by 11 players, not 12 players. I'm not a big fan of impact players. You are taking out so much from the game just to make it little entertainment for the people around," Rohit had said on the Club Prairie podcast. Several other cricketers have also called upon the rule for being responsible of huge scores in IPL 2024. But the rule will stay in the Indian cash-rich league for three more seasons.
The rule was introduced to the SMAT a couple of years ago and was then carried to the IPL setup. The tournament will begin from November 23 onwards with the final set to take place on December 15.
